456 Mr. W. W. Saunders on 



that five of the species are common to the continent of India and 

 the East Indian Islands; viz., facialis, angulatus, brachypterus, 

 elegans and cupripennis : six are peculiar to the islands — viz., 

 Schaumii, Aruensis, amcenus, aculeatiis, Icevigatus and splendidus ; 

 and one species, oxygonus, is from the Continent alone. 



Of the species from the Islands, three seem to be very gene- 

 rally spread — viz., facialis, angulatus and elegans ; the others are 

 restricted to one or two localities. It is worthy of remark, that 

 the species found on the Conjtinent have all, except one, been 

 detected at Sarawack. 



Looking now to the whole of the species of Catascopus, they 

 amount, in Baron Chaudoir's sketch, to thirty-one. Add to thi§ 

 four, the number of new species described in this paper, and we 

 get thirty-five as the present extent of the genus. 

 These are distributed as follows : — 



Main land of India 8 



East Indian Islands 13 



West A frica 6 



East Africa 2 



Tropical America 3 



Australia 1 



Undetermined 2 



35 



From this distribution it is evident that the head-quarters of the 

 genus is the East, and that in India and the East Indian Islands 

 more than half of the species are to be found. It is remarkable, 

 that while the East Indian Islands abound in different species, only 

 one has been detected in Australia^ although the Australian con- 

 tinent so closely approximates to the Islands in the vicinity of 

 Timor and New Guinea, and that this state of things is reversed 

 as regards the continent of India, which very closely approaches 

 the Islands at Singapore, for eight species are found on the con- 

 tinent, five of which, as before observed, are common to the 

 Islands, The genus Catascopus appears to be peculiar to the 

 tropics or the warmer parts of the globe, and there is every reason 

 to suppose that the number of species will be considerably aug- 

 mented when the researches of naturalists have more fully made 

 known the entomological riches of tropical India. I make this 

 observation, for new species of Catascopus are frequently turning 

 up ; and in a collection I have lately received from Siam, made 

 by the late M. Mouhot, there are two species which I believe to 



